Many Catholic churches have, around their walls, fouteen “stations” (sometimes with pictures or carvings) representing Jesus’ sorrows from His sentence of death to His being put in the tomb. Based on the four Gospels, the stations are: (1) He is condemned to death by Pilate. (2) He is made to bear His cross. (3) He falls the first time. (4) He meets His sorrowing mother. (5) Simon of Cyrene is forced to carry the cross. (6) A woman (traditionally named Veronica) wipes Jesus’ face. (7) He falls a second time. (8) Jesus speaks to the women of Jerusalem. (9) He falls a third time. (10) He is stripped of His garments. (11) He is nailed to the cross. (12) He dies. (13) He is taken from the cross. (14) He is laid in the tomb. Some of the incidents, like number 6, are based on old traditions, not on the Gospels.
Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land actually walked the “way of the cross” in and near Jerusalem. Churches began setting up the fourteen “stations” so that those who could not actually visit Jerusalem could reenact the pilgrimage as a devotional exercise.
